004

Quiv left the cave without thinking once about the money or the gorgeous tip he would have sucked out of his chatty customer.

He pulled out a small black notebook from his sachel, and read out the address of his next customer. "There's still time left, that hill isn't too far from here." He convinced himself, panting in-between words, struggling against the wind that pushed him back.

The path he took was secluded and prone to attack from all sorts of bandits, rogues and strays. But, it was the fastest route to take, if he had intentions of making his next delivery.

He sped past the trees which gave off eerie vibes, determined not to stand out and blend in with nature. The chilly winds and white patches of snow here and there, hinted that the effects of winter hadn't fully dissolved.

"I doubt I'll run into any trouble at this time of the year, it's far too cold for bandits to lay in wait..." On cue, a sharp arrow flew swiftly in his direction, aiming for the side of Quiv's neck.

The youngster was lucky to have picked up on it's sound a second too soon and bent his body backwards. Allowing the arrow pass right above his line of sight, and land deep into the bark of the tree beside him.

"Spoke too soon." He yelled, increasing the pace of his running, only to have about four to eight men chase after him from behind, all wielding knives and arrows.

"Shit, archers are a big problem." He cursed, looking over his shoulder, counting how many of them had bows in their hands.

'Two of them running after me, that's a relief, if I keep running in a zigzag pattern their arrows might not hit...' Quiv's quick thinking halted, the second a wave of realisation hit him.

"That arrow that almost hit me just now, what direction did it come from? It was from above!" He cried out, using the corner of his eyes to survey for any archers using trees as a shroud for attack.

'Too dark out here, I won't be able to see a thing.' he figured, just narrowly evading a sharp arrow aimed at his heels.

The pursuers quickly covered the distance between Quiv and them, as the gap in athletism between them was quite large. One of the bandits made a howl noise, passing some sort of message to the others.

Quiv who had no defense mechanism on him continued to run, clearly fatigued by it. Despite the cool breeze that slapped his face and tossed his hair about, sweat still ran across his neck and forehead.

It was, till an arrow landed on his left calf, that he found his knees falling to the unforgiving dirt underneath him. "Agh!" He cursed, falling face first to the snow.

"Tie him up." The leader amongst them ordered, leaning forward to snatch Quiv's sachel from his tight grasp. As he tried to peel it away, he found himself grinning from ear to ear at the thought of stealing from a rich traveller. 

Only to meet a bitter disappointment after successfully snatching it away from it's distressed owner. Inside of the sachel, were merely black market herbs and potions sold to cheapskates with no intention of buying them at standard price.

"You greedy peddler! Why did you make us chase you if you're this broke? Not even a copper coin is in here!" The leader charged at him, pushing his silver blade to Quiv's throat.

"I thought you were after my life! Just who wouldn't run from bandits!." He exclaimed, looking down at the sharp blade pointed at his neck.

The leader pinched his temples, swaying his head from side to side, disappointed in his own poor judgement.

"I see you have a headache, well you're in luck, I offer quality potions for migraines at the lowest prices. Just one sip and all your pain will fly away." The ever so greedy businessman pitched in, slowly pushing the knife away from his throat.

"Bastard is trying to sell his kidnapper his black market good!. You're a sly one kid." The leader pointed out in an amused tone, tossing his sachel back to him.

"Get lost kid." He told him in a distinct manner, swinging his knife at the ropes used to tie him to a tree, severing them.

He shoved his knife back into it's holder and gestured Quiv to take his leave. Quiv's eyes lit up at his good fortune, the youngster swiftly took to his heels, running away from the bandits, before they had a change of heart.

"Boss, why'd you let him go, we could have one of our spies report him to an official and rack the reward money for ourselves." One of his subordinates stated, nonchalantly scratching his head with the butt of his knife.

The leader who watched Quiv run off, zoned his vision on his left heel which he himself had shot with an arrow. A small smile played on his thin lips when he noticed the kid wasn't bleeding at all.

"As a bandit, you have to trust your instincts and make the right call every now and then. Let's just say, my guts tells me that boy will be someone quite useful to us in the near future." He said all too sure, resting his hands on his hips.

"Well boys! Let's pack up and lay in wait for the next traveller, and this time, make sure they have something valuable on them, before passing a signal." The blonde haired man made sure to sound the latter part of the sentence into their thick skulls.

"Yes sir!" The lot of them replied, concealing their weapons, and taking strategic places most wandering tourists would believe was safe.

Two of the youngest men in the jumped down from a tall tree to report something to their leader.

"What is it?" The leader seemed very serious when talking to these two, something the others envied a lot. The men were brothers, twins to be precise, bearing matching tattoos on the right side of their necks.

"We spotted a Naga following that traveller." The one standing on the left said, "but he doesn't seem to have any interest in our band, though he's headed our way." His brother added in a firmer tone.

"Boss, do we attack him?"

The leader pinched his chin, evaluating the situation and the capacity of his men. "Let's take the longer route and spend the night in some inn. There's bound to be booze to steal and take with." He responded, making the most reasonable choice.

'The twelve of us against one Naga is a losing game from the start.' he concluded, leading the men of his band away.